Reverse dieting and maintenance

I've been struggling to continue to keep my calories in the diet range.  A couple days ago I changed my goal on Avatar nutrition to a reverse diet. I'll reverse diet for three months, then maintain for three months. After that my metabolism should have recovered and I'll be able to start dieting again to get down to my dream weight.

Crazy taper thoughts

This Saturday is the US powerlifting association New Mexico state championships meet. This week I started my deload week. We used to call it a taper back in my triathlon days. I hate tapering. I keep thinking crazy OCD thoughts, "I could be gaining more streangth if I was training hard. What if I'm doing my taper wrong and screw up my meet. Why don't I Just say screw this meet and continue training through to prepare for the next one. Missing one meet won't hurt. Etc."

I also started eating to maintain my weight instead of dieting to drop weight. That way I'll go into the meet fully fueled and not at a deficit. And of course I'm miserable doing that to. I have more and even stronger OCD thoughts about pushing pause on my weight loss until after the meet. "I could be 5 pounds lighter by now! I could just diet through the meet, 5 or 10 pounds on my meets total won't really matter. I'm finally on a roll loosing weight, what if I can't get back on the diet wagon?"

I know I'm doing the right thing by slowing my training and dieting. But it's hard when I'm such a one track mind kind of a guy.

Oh, by the way. Have I mentioned lately how much happier I am now that I'm not being forced to work 80-90 hours a week anymore? I'm spending a lot of my time with my kids. Driving them to wrestling, volleyball, and weightlifiting practices. Watching thier sporting events. Getting in my workout time. And now that I can sleep a normal amount of time I'm no longer struggling with overeating and depression. Life is finally good again. That 11 years of hell is finally over.

creatine, whey protein and Olympic weightlifting

I've made big gains in my strength the last week. I've made bigger gains this week than any other 3 weeks combined. I'm even feeling less fatigue and recovering more quickly between sets! The only thing I've been doing differently this week than before is that I'm taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate once a day and whey protein immediately after my workouts. The only negative effect's I've found about taking creatine and whey protein is that my weight loss has stopped and I'm REALLY hungry all the time! I assume the weight loss having stopped and me being so hungry is because I'm building more muscle, so I can't complain. Ultimately me gaining more muscle will make my body burn more calories and help me to drop more fat later on, so I'm content maintaining my weight of 260 pounds for awhile if I continue to make such wonderful gains.

week 4 of Olympic weightlifting and weight loss

Today I start my 4th week of Olympic weightlifting. The last 3 weeks I've mostly been training to learn correct form, yet my strength is still gaining quickly. The first 3 weeks my coach Shane Miller, had me doing power snatches and power cleans from the knee, dead lifts, presses, squats, etc. This week my coach is going to have me start doing power snatches and power cleans from the ground. I'm excited about progressing to this next phase of Olympic weightlifting.

So far my weight loss has been progressing quickly and effortlessly. During the 7 years of hard core dieting and triathlon training I learned my body responded much better to weight loss if I dieted for a few weeks, then spent a week maintaining my weight. In the first 2 weeks I'd been averaging 2,500 calories a day and I lost 12 pounds. For the 3rd week of Olympic weightlifting I raised my calories to 3,400 and maintained my weight of 268.8 for the entire week. This week I'll be returning to a calorie restricted, high protein and fat, moderate carbohydrate diet. I'm going to try and keep my weight loss at about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds a week. If I stay consistent with this schedule I should hit my goal of being in the masters 105k class by May, just in time for the New Mexico state games.

weight maintenance

A couple weeks ago I posted that I've been unable to lose any more weight no matter what I tried, that I was constantly hungry, not sleeping well, and not recovering like I should. I decided to try to stop my weight loss and maintain my current weight by eating at my metabolic rate and eating any calories I burn from training. Since raising my daily calories I feel great and I actually dropped two tenths of a pound, I'm down to 176.8. It appears that the extra calories were exactly what I was needing.

fatigued, no more weight loss for me!

It took me 6.5 years of dieting, falling off the wagon, gaining most of my weight back, learning from the diet mistakes I'd made, dieting again, falling off the wagon again, learning from the diet mistakes I'd made......

Last year I'd finally got to 177 pounds and maintained that from July until November. After IMAZ in November I decided I'd try to drop a couple more pounds. I've applied all the knowledge I've attained from 7 years of experimenting with my body, nutrition, and exercise routines to no avail. No matter what I've tried I cant seem to drop below 177 pounds. Each time I get even a little bit below 177 I get incredibly hungry, I cant sleep well, and I struggle to to through training workouts. The last couple weeks I've had a lot of people tell me I looked sick and pale. This week was my worst week of training I've had in years! On Friday I completed a 30 mile bike and was only only able to maintain a 12.9 mile per hour pace. I could ride faster than that back when I weighed over 250 pounds.

I'm a very determined type of person, to the point where I have hurt myself pushing to hard for to long in training and races,but I think I've finally come to the realization that I've got to as low of a body weight as I can get without losing speed, endurance, and possibly my health. I should be excited. It took me years of struggle to to get to 177 pounds and %6 body fat, but because of my OCD personality I'm disapointed. I wanted to get to my next IRON distance race weighing 175 pounds or less. Now that I look back at my training and racing I see the signs that should have been obvious. I had the worst race of my life at IMAZ 2011, and it was because of my low body weight.

I've decided I'm going to try and maintain my current weight of 177 pounds until February 27th. If I continue to feel weak, slow, and unable to train long distances after Feb 27th I'll gain a few pounds a re-access how I feel.

Triathlon sure would be easier if everything was in black and white. I struggle being in gray areas.

cookie baking & a triathlon physique dont mix

Today I baked sugar cookies with confetti sprinkles on them for my babies and didn't eat any. I felt like I was being tortured. Baking cookies and then not having a single taste is something that could be used at Guantanamo Bay.

Now that I'm no longer training I'm having to be super careful about my calorie intake. I no longer have the calories to eat wich I normally earn from working out, and since early September my metabolic rate has dropped from 3350 calories a day to 2884 calories a day. My goals for the next few months is to rest, recover, and most importantly NOT gain any weight. In early September I Weighed 182. Somehow I've been able to avoid gaining any weight without having exercised at all for the last 20 days. I'm hoping I can continue to maintain until I get back to swimming, biking, running, & a bit of strength training. Once I get back to training I'd like to try to get down to my dream weight of 177 pounds! Man I'd be fast at that weight!!!!

Body weight fluctuations

A low body weight is imperative to being a fast Iron distance triathlete. The last two times I trained for an Ironman I kept dieting until I was miserable with hunger, then promptly fell off the diet wagon & gained all my weight back. I've decided to start a maintenance diet from here until Ironman Arizona.

I've started the build phase of my training plan, so I need my energy to recover, build fitness & speed. Being at a caloric deficit would hurt my Iron dreams. My current weight on my home scale is 186.8 pounds. Thanks to the great advise of a few of my Face Book buddies like my wife & James Webster I'm hoping my weight on race day will be 186 pounds.

I know I've posted things similar to this before. But it's different this time. Before my goal had always been to maintain for a short while so that I could start losing weight again as soon as I felt physically able. This time is different because my goal is to maintain. I'm staying at this weight for the next 5 months!

Thanks to the wise advise of my beautiful wife & James Webster, this is the one of the few intelligent decisions I've made in regards to my weight. Thanks guys.

stopping my weight loss, maintenance time

I've decided to maintain my current weight for at least a few weeks even though I'm only 2.5 pounds away from my goal weight of 190. I'm seeing signs that my body is no longer content being on a calorie restricted diet. I feel weak & am not training well. At last weekends race I felt slow & unable to push myself as hard I'm usually able to. The biggest sign I'm seeing is MY HUNGER!

I've been losing an average of 1.5 to 1.75 pounds a week since January. I wasn't restricting my calories enough to feel that hungry, but gradually the hunger has been building, & yesterday I was hungry enough that I was very unpleasant to be around. I've had this happen before: I'd get close to a goal weight and I'd ignore my bodies warning signs. Then I'd end up falling off the wagon & gaining most or all of my weight back. So this time I'm not going to ignore my body. Even though I'm only 2.5 to 3 pounds away from my goal weight, I'm going to do what my body's telling me it needs. This time I'm not so focused on the short term that I end up destroying my long term goal. I'm going to let my body recover & start to feel good again. Perhaps I'll try to drop the extra 3 pounds in late May or early June. If I decide to, it will be because my body feels great & I know it's ready & able to. If I feel that my body isn't ready, I won't. This more moderate approach to dieting is something I've never done before, which probably explains why I've always shown up to my Ironman triathlons over weight. The only thing that has held me back from finishing an Iron distance triathlon in under 13 hours has been my weight. Hopefully this November I'll show up to Ironman Arizona between 180-200 pounds & break that elusive 13 hour mark!

Right now my metabolic rate is 3100 calories. I'm excited at the prospect of eating 3100 calories a day plus the calories earned from exercise!

My next A race

I'm getting pretty excited, my A race is coming up in a month. It's the Patriot triathlon in Rio Rancho on September 12th. I chose this race to be my late season A race because it is a hilly course & I'm REALLY HORRIBLE at hill climbing. I don't expect to have a high placing overall, perhaps not even in my AG because it is a hilly course, & like I've said, I struggle badly with anything larger than a speed bump. But I do think this race will be my best performance ever as far as hilly races go.

I think taking this time to become better at hills will make me a better triathlete next year, which is important because there are a few 30-34 AG's that are aging up to my division next season. One guy in particular I've been watching who will be aging up into my division is a fellow NM Outlaw named David Liotta. He & I first raced against each other at the Jingle Bell triathlon. He ran like a gazelle! I almost ruined my entire race trying to keep up with him on the run. I ended up able to pass him on the bike, & hold him off on the swim to finish slightly in front of him. Since the Jingle Bell we've showed up & raced at the same race 3-4 times & he's beaten me soundly at each one. He will be a huge challenge for me to compete with. I'm very excited to have someone of his ability & talent to race against. Him being in my division will be a huge motivator!

Now that I'm a month away from my A race I've switched to a maintenance diet. I had been attempting to lose half a pound to 1 pound a week. I'm now going to try & just maintain my weight so that I can show up fully recovered & fueled at the Patriot & throw a smack down for the 1st time on a hilly course!

Weight maintenance. That is the one area of endurance athletics I've failed at time after time after time! I've lost weight before & done great in a race or two because of it, but after the race I always ended up gaining the weight back. This January was the 3rd time I had dropped below 200 pounds, but this year is the 1st time I've ever been able to keep below 200 for longer than a month. Since January I've been gradually losing more weight, I'm now down to 187. Although this year I've been successful at staying below 200, I wasn't trying to maintain, I've been trying to lose more. I'm hoping the knowledge I've learned & applied to slowly drop the weight this year & not gain it back can now also be used to maintain. I'll keep my fingers crossed & I'll keep you informed. If there is any changes, or no changes at all I'll let you peeps know.